Mumbai, Jan. 30 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded a tad below the 25,300 level. IT stocks extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 357.87 points or 0.43% to 82,208.50. The Nifty 50 index dropped 119.60 points or 0.49% to 25,295.25.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.16% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.02%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,304 shares rose and 1,688 shares fell. A total of 190 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 3.68% to 13.86. The Nifty...